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Robert Tonks has spent 20 years developing technology that could transform Australia's approach to waste and soil health - but he's running out of time and money to prove it works.
At 60+, this Brisbane inventor has created a mobile system that turns organic waste into biochar - a soil enhancer that stores carbon for centuries while healing contaminated farmland.
His innovation could solve two of Australia's biggest environmental problems at once, yet institutional funding continues to ignore him.
"I won't be around forever," Robert says, "but the carbon I put in the soil will be there for my grandchildren and their grandchildren."
The Problem We're Solving
Every day, Australia sends thousands of tonnes of organic waste to landfill, where it releases methane - a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than CO2. Meanwhile, farmers struggle with degraded soils and PFAS contamination that seems impossible to remove.
Robert's Solution
Working from his workshop, Robert has developed a mobile pyrolysis system that transforms any organic waste into three powerful products:
- Charcoal which once activated becomes Biochar - which locks carbon in soil for centuries while making plants thrive
- Liquid Biochar - can restore even contaminated farmland
- Wood Smoke Vinegar - strengthens crops naturally
The entire system fits in a shipping container, generates its own power, and can process waste anywhere it's needed.
Why He Needs Your Help
Robert has working technology and proven results, but traditional funding won't support him - too advanced for research grants, too early for commercial loans. While billions flow to carbon removal technologies overseas, Australia is leaving its own innovators behind.
We've written submissions to Senate committees about PFAS solutions and reached out to companies facing cleanup notices, yet it feels like screaming into the void. The technology that could solve their problems exists, but institutional Australia isn't listening.
Your support funds:
- Workshop materials and testing costs
- The exhausting work of education and advocacy
- Robert's basic security so he can focus on innovation instead of survival
- Documentation that will prove this technology's worth to the world
What You're Really Supporting
This isn't just about funding a project - you're preserving a legacy that will benefit generations. Every dollar helps Robert race against time to establish technology that could heal Australian soils long after he's gone.
You become part of a community that recognised this innovation's importance before institutions did. When Robert's biochar is healing contaminated farmland in years to come, you'll know you helped make it possible.
The Urgency is Real
Robert could have given up years ago when the rejections kept coming. But he can't abandon his vision: Australian soils rich with carbon, farmers growing crops on once-degraded land, children playing on earth healthier than when we found it.
Every month we wait is another month of waste going to landfill, more carbon released, more soil degraded. The solution exists - it just needs community support to survive until the world catches up.
Help Robert turn 20 years of dedication into centuries of environmental benefit.
Organizer
Tim Neilen
Organizer
Victoria Point, QLD